The out-of-control driver of a stolen rental car accused of killing two people in Chinatown and trying to flee was freed without bail after being arrested for leaving the scene of a crash that badly injured a pedestrian earlier this year, the Daily News has learned.
Three months before the fatal high-speed Saturday morning smash up at Bowery and Canal St., the 23-year-old driver allegedly struck a pedestrian in Brooklyn, causing serious injuries, and fled, sources said.
The woman, who was driving without a license, plowed a white Nissan into a 22-year-old woman near Coney Island Ave. and Beverly Road in Kensington about 2:30 a.m. April 13, according to cops.
The victim suffered injuries to her collarbone, nose, mouth and shoulder, but survived. The driver fled but police identified her with the help of a witness and arrested her that day, cops said.
She was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and aggravated driving without a license before being released without bail following her arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court. She is due back in court on Aug. 5 in that case.
On Saturday, the same driver was behind the wheel of a stolen rental Chevy Malibu exiting the Manhattan Bridge when she launched into a busy pedestrian island about 7:30 a.m., ripping a metal bench from the ground and killing May Kwok, 63, who was sitting on it, according to cops. The impact tore Kwok’s legs from her body.
A second victim, a 55-year-old man who was riding a bicycle, was thrown against a nearby storefront, a horrified witness told the Daily News.
Both victims died on the scene. The bicyclist’s name has not yet been released.
The driver then rammed an unoccupied NYPD van parked next the crosswalk on the east side of the Bowery before stopping in the street. She ran off, as did her 22-year-old passenger, as witnesses tried to stop them. Police caught both about a block away.
Police have not yet released the driver’s name and charges against her were still pending Sunday.
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